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The Daily Juggling Act

This is something many of us struggle with. The feeling that there simply aren’t enough minutes in the day to accomplish what we need to accomplish, let alone have some time to ourselves. In a typical day for me, I have a lot of different roles to play – student, worker, (dog) parent, spouse, homemaker, musician. It’s really difficult to keep it all in balance sometimes.

On a typical weekday, I wake up early and knock out a few things before work – I might practice cello for 30 minutes, or do a little bit of reading for class. During my workday, I try to make the most of the energy I have. For instance, I know that my energy is best in the mornings, so I try to schedule my most challenging tasks (the ones that require the most concentration) for the morning hours, and leave easier tasks, like data entry, for the afternoons.

I’ve learned that I’m a person who needs a good amount of exercise to help me stay calm and focused, so I usually do something during my lunch hour – some days I take a walk. Other days I take a swim. This helps me keep my energy up through the afternoon.

After work, I usually take my dogs for a walk. Then I work on preparing dinner for my husband and me. After dinner, I try to spend one more hour being ‘productive’ before I allow myself some downtime.

Weekends are often spent working as well. I teach four cello students on Saturdays and often have gigs to play – weddings or concerts. Then there’s always house-cleaning and maintenance that needs to be done. I try to make sure that I have one day a week completely ‘off’ meaning no gigs, no teaching, and plenty of ‘me’ time.

I’m fortunate to be a person who naturally has a lot of energy, but sometimes I have a difficult time turning this off and just relaxing. This is something I’m trying to get better at – just relaxing.